PUBLISH! PUBLISH!

My ninth grade English teacher, Mrs. Griswold, had a six week creative writing period at the end of my freshman year in high school. I had never heard of such a thing even though I had been writing since age 11. At the top of the first page of every assignment I wrote she would place in red ink: “Publish! Publish!” I fell in love with writing and I wanted to become a published author.

In today’s part 3, which will be segmented into several sections, I begin discussing where to go with your finished manuscript if you want to get published.

PUBLISH! PUBLISH!

You have written your manuscript. You have honed your writing skills. You have edited it to the best polished version you can imagine. Now what? How do you get that bad boy into print?

I have had the good fortune and also, misfortune of publishing every which way imaginable. I have published books through traditional publishers (Meriwether Publishing/Contemporary Drama, Broadman & Holman, Lifeway, Kregel, B&H Publishing, and Strang Communications/Realms Imprint). I have paid a “self publisher” to publish my books (Xlibris, iUniverse, BookPros, and Westbow Press). I have paid a low end publishing entity to merely print out a book for promotional purposes (Xlibris). And I have formed my own independent publishing entities.

I have done it all and I can tell you there are lots of bear traps along the way. Let’s start with the easiest pathway — the self-publishing company.

SELF PUBLISHING COMPANY

https://selfpublishingadvice.org/best-self-publishing-services/ is one of many sites to check out the best and worst self publishing companies. What I am about to say about these entities is scathing. But, there are a very few companies you can trust and I would do a lot of research on the internet and get unbiased reviews of the company you may choose before proceeding. Note that there are many entities that help you get published but YOU do the work and YOU pay for each level of service. These reliable companies can be found in the information of www.thecreativepenn.com. But, I will tell you they are few and far between in my experience.

Having said all that:

Author Beware! In fact, do a search for “author beware” or “writer beware” before going with a self-publishing company that promises to do everything for you.